As some of you may recall I was soliciting suggestions/advise on what
to look for and or look out for concerning the purchase of an "Upgrade"
Drill Press. I had pretty much narrowed my decision down to a Delta but was
not quite sure which one, the 17" or the 20" variable speed. Friday morning
Swingman and I got together and played hooky until mid afternoon. To
justify wasting an afternoon other than having a good time he bought 20 lbs.
of screws, I bought a new guard bumper for my 20 year old Senco finish
nailer. But first things first, we went in to one of our local suppliers of
really cool tools, one he frequents more often than I. We walk in the
doors, he hangs a hard left, I continue to walk back to the sales counter,
turn left walk down a few isles, turn left again only to see that Swingman
beat me to the target, the line up of Drill Presses. Damn! I had to get in
line behind him to touch and feel. ;~)
Any way we looked at all the offerings, Jet, Powermatic, and Delta. I
paid particular attention to the 17" 17-959L, and the 20" 20-950 Deltas. I
learned that the 20" variable speed Delta actually has a low speed of 200
rpm, I was looking for 250 or slower. This immediately qualified it to be a
consideration, so side by side I had the opportunity to compare the two
feature for feature. The real differences I saw between the two were, 1.
The 20" DP is tall, I am 6' tall and I felt I was looking up at Darth Vader,
just over 75" tall according to Swingman's trusty pocket tape measure given
to him by an ex-, I probably should not go there. 2. The 20" DP has a
larger table, about 24" wide vs. 18" on the 17" DP IIRC. 3. The 20" DP has
a 6" quill stroke, just over 1" more than the 17" DP. 4. The 17" DP has
the wired-in Laser, the 20" has none, a feature that really did not matter
to me. 5. Oh yeah, the 20" DP is variable speed. 6. The 20" DP has 1 hp,
the 17" DP has 3/4 hp. 7. The 20" DP is about 50 lbs heavier than the 17"
DP. 8. The 20" DP is 38% more expensive than the 17" DP.
Arriving back home and being greeted by the beginning of a 3.75" rain
that lasted 26 hours I began doing a little more research on the 2 DPs.
Yesterday morning it was dark and raining so I went to my local supplier of
ww stuff and inquired about the Delta DPs. They were sold out. ;~( BUT,
I decided that the 17" DP was the way to go and I would wait for Fathers Day
to see if any one would put it on sale. But that is two months away. ;~(
Later yesterday afternoon my wife and I left to go to our weekly get
together with Swingman and his lovely wife for our weekly wine, cheese,
cracker, and fruit feeding frenzy, which is followed up by dinner, and his
and my ass whoopin playing Canasta against the "girls". On the way over, my
wife and I stop at still another of our local ww supply stores. We walk up
to the doors and I see a sign that indicates that they close at 5, it was
5:20, I almost cried. Then like magic the door opens and a hand reaches
out to point out the words on the sign, "beginning May 3" we will close at
5. We walk in!.
The manager asks what he can help me with, I said I am looking for a
17-959L. He says look over there, I look over there and see a Powermatic
DP. Where? Over there! I still see a PM DP. Where? He looks and sees a
PM DP and says OH! we have not put it together yet, let me look in back. I
said don't bother I am not going to buy yet, it was still pouring down
raining out side and it was not Fathers Day. He spins around looking at me
and my wife and we being the only customers in the store asks what is it
going to take to sell me that drill press? I knew his price was the
cheapest I had seen anywhere including the internet so I said, should I
decide to buy right now I want my offer to be fair to both of us. I threw
out the suggestion of his regular price less 8.25% which is equal to our
local sales tax. He looked at me square in the eyes and countered with 10%
off. DAMN! he did not like my offer. Oh wait! his offer is better than
mine, SOLD! I'll pick it up next Saturday when my son can help with the
heavy lifting and hopefully it sill not be raining.

The biggest plus that the Delta has over its competition and ultimately
steered me in that direction is that the table is made for a wood worker.
The table has a removable sacrificial MDF insert, accepts T-bolts, tilts 90"
left and right, and tilts forward 45", smoothly. Second in line of choices
was the 17" Steel City.

"Leon" wrote in message
decide to buy right now I want my offer to be fair to both of us. I threw
out the suggestion of his regular price less 8.25% which is equal to our
local sales tax. He looked at me square in the eyes and countered with
10% off. DAMN! he did not like my offer. Oh wait! his offer is better
than mine, SOLD! I'll pick it up next Saturday when my son can help with
the heavy lifting and hopefully it sill not be raining.

You should have argued with him until he accepted your offer.

Good luck with it and I hope you enjoy using it.

On 2009-04-19, Leon wrote:

The biggest plus that the Delta has over its competition and ultimately
steered me in that direction is that the table is made for a wood worker.
The table has a removable sacrificial MDF insert, accepts T-bolts, tilts 90"
left and right, and tilts forward 45", smoothly. Second in line of choices
was the 17" Steel City.

You should have looked in want-ads and craigslist. I had to sell my 2hp
drill press for $100 when I moved. A 36" cast iron, 6 speed, 1" taper chuck
monster. The used market is unbelievable. I've given up trying to sell even
NIB stuff, the market being so saturated.

"The toys are the first to go" --nb

Good luck with your new DP. I hope it fills all your needs. Keep us posted
on pros and cons.

nb

"Leon" told us a tall tale of drill press buyin'

Damn Leon, when you set out to buy a tool, it becomes an epic journey! Some
kinda spiritual quest.

And to top it off, you get to experience some kinda pagan feast over at
Swingmans afterwards. Life must be good.

On Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:24:52 -0500, Leon wrote:

I'll pick it up next Saturday when my son can help with
the heavy lifting and hopefully it sill not be raining.

And we'll all be expecting a review in the not too distant future.

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw

"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...

"Leon" told us a tall tale of drill press buyin'

Damn Leon, when you set out to buy a tool, it becomes an epic journey!
Some kinda spiritual quest.

As any hunter would attest, the hunt is 99% of the fun! After the hunt,
it's all work.

And to top it off, you get to experience some kinda pagan feast over at
Swingmans afterwards. Life must be good.

No complaints, especially when he does the cook'n.

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"Leon" wrote in message
decide to buy right now I want my offer to be fair to both of us. I
threw out the suggestion of his regular price less 8.25% which is equal
to our local sales tax. He looked at me square in the eyes and countered
with 10% off. DAMN! he did not like my offer. Oh wait! his offer is
better than mine, SOLD! I'll pick it up next Saturday when my son can
help with the heavy lifting and hopefully it sill not be raining.

You should have argued with him until he accepted your offer.

I have not picked it up yet. Maybe I can whittle him UP a little more. ;~)

Good luck with it and I hope you enjoy using it.

Thank you Ed.

"notbob" wrote in message
...
On 2009-04-19, Leon wrote:

The biggest plus that the Delta has over its competition and
ultimately
steered me in that direction is that the table is made for a wood worker.
The table has a removable sacrificial MDF insert, accepts T-bolts, tilts
90"
left and right, and tilts forward 45", smoothly. Second in line of
choices
was the 17" Steel City.

You should have looked in want-ads and craigslist. I had to sell my 2hp
drill press for $100 when I moved. A 36" cast iron, 6 speed, 1" taper
chuck
monster. The used market is unbelievable. I've given up trying to sell
even
NIB stuff, the market being so saturated.

"The toys are the first to go" --nb

Good luck with your new DP. I hope it fills all your needs. Keep us
posted
on pros and cons.


Thank you!

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:24:52 -0500, Leon wrote:

I'll pick it up next Saturday when my son can help with
the heavy lifting and hopefully it sill not be raining.

And we'll all be expecting a review in the not too distant future.


I suspect you will after my "build up".

"notbob" wrote in message
...
On 2009-04-19, Leon wrote:

You should have looked in want-ads and craigslist. I had to sell my 2hp
drill press for $100 when I moved. A 36" cast iron, 6 speed, 1" taper
chuck
monster. The used market is unbelievable. I've given up trying to sell
even
NIB stuff, the market being so saturated.



Must be an area specific thing! I watch Craigslist all the time and never
see anything worth buying. Once in a while I put the word out that I am
looking for a certain tool and some stuff shows up, but still no deals.
Greg

On 2009-04-19, Greg O wrote:

Must be an area specific thing!

Probably. This was offered in the late, great, Silicon Valley, now a
complete ghost town with miles of empty hi-tech campuses and failed support
industries. The Detroit of NorCal.

nb

On Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:24:52 -0500, "Leon" wrote:

As some of you may recall I was soliciting suggestions/advise on what
to look for and or look out for concerning the purchase of an "Upgrade"
Drill Press. I had pretty much narrowed my decision down to a Delta but was
not quite sure which one, the 17" or the 20" variable speed. Friday morning
Swingman and I got together and played hooky until mid afternoon. To
justify wasting an afternoon other than having a good time he bought 20 lbs.
of screws, I bought a new guard bumper for my 20 year old Senco finish
nailer. But first things first, we went in to one of our local suppliers of
really cool tools, one he frequents more often than I. We walk in the
doors, he hangs a hard left, I continue to walk back to the sales counter,
turn left walk down a few isles, turn left again only to see that Swingman
beat me to the target, the line up of Drill Presses. Damn! I had to get in
line behind him to touch and feel. ;~)
Any way we looked at all the offerings, Jet, Powermatic, and Delta. I

If Swingman walked past the Panasonic cordless drill display and you didn't, was this by chance
Circle Saw? Only place in town I know of that stocks finish nailer tips. I try to stop in and
drool over the hardware every month or two.

Regards,
Roy

"Roy" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:24:52 -0500, "Leon"
wrote:

If Swingman walked past the Panasonic cordless drill display and you
didn't, was this by chance
Circle Saw? Only place in town I know of that stocks finish nailer tips.
I try to stop in and
drool over the hardware every month or two.

Regards,
Roy


That is indeed is where we were Friday afternoon.

"Leon" wrote in
:


"Roy" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:24:52 -0500, "Leon"
wrote:

If Swingman walked past the Panasonic cordless drill display and you
didn't, was this by chance
Circle Saw? Only place in town I know of that stocks finish nailer
tips. I try to stop in and
drool over the hardware every month or two.

Regards,
Roy


That is indeed is where we were Friday afternoon.



Hm... that accounts for a couple billion atoms. If I can just get a fix
on all the other ones in the universe Friday afternoon, I should be able
to predict the interactions between them for all eternity and tell the
future!

Congratulations on finding the new drill press Leon. Does your table jig
fit? (I still haven't occasion to copy it.)

Puckdropper
--
"The potential difference between the top and bottom of a tree is the
reason why all trees have to be grounded..." -- Bored Borg on
rec.woodworking

To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm

Are you going to buy a quick change chuck for it? Plenty out there on the
internet. I wonder if you can tighten down on a bit with one of those as
well as a normal drill chuck. Must be some reason you rarely see them on
drill presses.. Maybe its just the added cost and lack of demand.. Don't
know..

"Leon" wrote in message
...
As some of you may recall I was soliciting suggestions/advise on what
to look for and or look out for concerning the purchase of an "Upgrade"
Drill Press. I had pretty much narrowed my decision down to a Delta but
was not quite sure which one, the 17" or the 20" variable speed. Friday
morning Swingman and I got together and played hooky until mid afternoon.
To justify wasting an afternoon other than having a good time he bought 20
lbs. of screws, I bought a new guard bumper for my 20 year old Senco
finish nailer. But first things first, we went in to one of our local
suppliers of really cool tools, one he frequents more often than I. We
walk in the doors, he hangs a hard left, I continue to walk back to the
sales counter, turn left walk down a few isles, turn left again only to
see that Swingman beat me to the target, the line up of Drill Presses.
Damn! I had to get in line behind him to touch and feel. ;~)
Any way we looked at all the offerings, Jet, Powermatic, and Delta. I
paid particular attention to the 17" 17-959L, and the 20" 20-950 Deltas.
I learned that the 20" variable speed Delta actually has a low speed of
200 rpm, I was looking for 250 or slower. This immediately qualified it
to be a consideration, so side by side I had the opportunity to compare
the two feature for feature. The real differences I saw between the two
were, 1. The 20" DP is tall, I am 6' tall and I felt I was looking up at
Darth Vader, just over 75" tall according to Swingman's trusty pocket tape
measure given to him by an ex-, I probably should not go there. 2. The
20" DP has a larger table, about 24" wide vs. 18" on the 17" DP IIRC. 3.
The 20" DP has a 6" quill stroke, just over 1" more than the 17" DP. 4.
The 17" DP has the wired-in Laser, the 20" has none, a feature that really
did not matter to me. 5. Oh yeah, the 20" DP is variable speed. 6. The
20" DP has 1 hp, the 17" DP has 3/4 hp. 7. The 20" DP is about 50 lbs
heavier than the 17" DP. 8. The 20" DP is 38% more expensive than the
17" DP.
Arriving back home and being greeted by the beginning of a 3.75" rain
that lasted 26 hours I began doing a little more research on the 2 DPs.
Yesterday morning it was dark and raining so I went to my local supplier
of ww stuff and inquired about the Delta DPs. They were sold out.
;~( BUT, I decided that the 17" DP was the way to go and I would wait
for Fathers Day to see if any one would put it on sale. But that is two
months away. ;~(
Later yesterday afternoon my wife and I left to go to our weekly get
together with Swingman and his lovely wife for our weekly wine, cheese,
cracker, and fruit feeding frenzy, which is followed up by dinner, and his
and my ass whoopin playing Canasta against the "girls". On the way over,
my wife and I stop at still another of our local ww supply stores. We
walk up to the doors and I see a sign that indicates that they close at 5,
it was 5:20, I almost cried. Then like magic the door opens and a hand
reaches out to point out the words on the sign, "beginning May 3" we will
close at 5. We walk in!.
The manager asks what he can help me with, I said I am looking for a
17-959L. He says look over there, I look over there and see a Powermatic
DP. Where? Over there! I still see a PM DP. Where? He looks and sees
a PM DP and says OH! we have not put it together yet, let me look in
back. I said don't bother I am not going to buy yet, it was still pouring
down raining out side and it was not Fathers Day. He spins around looking
at me and my wife and we being the only customers in the store asks what
is it going to take to sell me that drill press? I knew his price was the
cheapest I had seen anywhere including the internet so I said, should I
decide to buy right now I want my offer to be fair to both of us. I threw
out the suggestion of his regular price less 8.25% which is equal to our
local sales tax. He looked at me square in the eyes and countered with
10% off. DAMN! he did not like my offer. Oh wait! his offer is better
than mine, SOLD! I'll pick it up next Saturday when my son can help with
the heavy lifting and hopefully it sill not be raining.

The biggest plus that the Delta has over its competition and
ultimately steered me in that direction is that the table is made for a
wood worker. The table has a removable sacrificial MDF insert, accepts
T-bolts, tilts 90" left and right, and tilts forward 45", smoothly.
Second in line of choices was the 17" Steel City.

"Jim Hall" wrote in message
. ..
Are you going to buy a quick change chuck for it? Plenty out there on the
internet. I wonder if you can tighten down on a bit with one of those as
well as a normal drill chuck. Must be some reason you rarely see them on
drill presses.. Maybe its just the added cost and lack of demand.. Don't
know..

I may eventually get one if I don't like the one that comes on the DP. I
know that legless tend to tighten more evenly and therefore "can" tighten
better. Larger sizes may be a different issue. I think the main reason
that you may not see them on DP's is that they are expensive. IIRC several
years ago I was pricing them at over $100. The current Powermatic and about
half of the Craftsman DP's come with a keyless chuck.

"Jim Hall" wrote in message
Are you going to buy a quick change chuck for it? Plenty out there on the
internet. I wonder if you can tighten down on a bit with one of those as
well as a normal drill chuck.

What's a quick change chuck ~ one that is hand tightened?

While I fine with using one on a cordless drill, I'd be dubious about having
one on a drill press where a properly tightened chuck is of prime
importance. Maybe there's some out there?

On Apr 19, 6:51*pm, notbob wrote:
On 2009-04-19, Greg O wrote:

Must be an area specific thing!

Probably. *This was offered in the late, great, Silicon Valley, now a
complete ghost town with miles of empty hi-tech campuses and failed support
industries. *The Detroit of NorCal. *

nb

How bad has it gotten there?

A former high tech inmate curious to know. ;)

TMT